


please stay forever with me

by ancientdeceiver



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Coming Out, Established Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Retirement, Romantic Fluff, coming home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-12 00:18:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17457032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ancientdeceiver/pseuds/ancientdeceiver
Summary: A coming home of sorts.





	please stay forever with me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sunshinexbomb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshinexbomb/gifts).



> happy birthday jarka! i hope you have a great day and all the best wishes to you! thanks for making me emo about these two bc now i can’t stop thinking about them, especially not after seeing that stupid picture strip where they’re being all domestic and gross, ugh :((( 
> 
> i’m basic and emo af and that’s why the title comes from _if i’m james dean, you’re audrey hepburn_ by sleeping with sirens
> 
> anyway, i hope you enjoy! (ps: small, minor spoiler in the end notes)

Nicke doesn’t watch Mike’s last game. 

He doesn’t watch the standing ovation the crowd gives him when he steps on the ice for the last time, just as he doesn’t see the ovation they give him when he steps off the ice for the last time ever. It would be too much if he was there, Nicke thinks, but now it  _ hurts  _ too much to only see and not be there, even if it was in the tunnel waiting for him, to hug him, to  _ hold him.  _ Realistically, it would have to be in the tunnel, maybe in the locker room so no cameras would accidentally catch them hugging too romantically. Not that Nicke minds, not that he’s ever cared about outing himself; it was always Mike insisting that maybe they should do it  _ after  _ they’ve both retired because he didn’t want to jeopardize the rest of Nicke’s career.

There’s nothing in the world Nicke wouldn’t have risked just to be with Mike; nothing was -  _ is  _ \- worth it to lose Mike. Mike is Nicke’s everything, his entire being and existence, his whole  _ soul. _

It’s precisely because Nicke doesn’t watch Mike’s last game that he doesn’t see Mike announcing to the whole world that they’ve been together for fifteen years, that for  _ fifteen years  _ Nicke has been Mike’s soulmate. If Nicke  _ had  _ been watching the game, he would’ve seen Mike kiss his hand and wave at him through the tv screen.

\/\/\/

Mike doesn’t call or text for a few days. Nicke doesn’t mind, he expects it, in fact; there’s no way Nicke would’ve expected Mike to get in touch with him right away, especially not the way his career ended: a 9-2 blowout loss to the Leafs. But he does call, eventually, tells Nicke that he’s coming home the next day and he would really like it if Nicke was there to welcome him.

Nicke wouldn’t miss it for the world.

\/\/\/

It’s a little like in the movies: Nicke’s waiting in the arrivals, endlessly scrolling through his phone, when he feels someone looking at him. And, he’s right. It’s Mike who’s looking at him like it’s the first time he’s ever laid eyes on Nicke. Time freezes, well, it feels like it does, anyway. Mike takes a step first and it’s what spurs Nicke into action. Before, at the beginning of their relationship, Nicke would’ve been embarrassed to display so much affection in public, but time has gone on, he’s cared less and less about that.

It feels like a lifetime before they reach each other, but it’s quicker than that when Nicke feels Mike’s hands on his face. There’s no other feeling in the world like it; it makes Nicke feel so happy that he could cry. He’s not a crier, but this is really pushing him to the brink.

“I couldn’t… I couldn’t watch it, Mike,” Nicke confesses, quietly. Mike’s expression doesn’t change from that of pure love and adoration. 

“It’s ok, I didn’t expect you to,” Mike says, dropping his hands from Nicke’s face and moving them to Nicke’s shoulders. “You still have responsibilities with your team, it would be selfish for me to ask you to watch  _ all  _ of my games. I’m just sorry that I didn’t ask you if you were ok with, uh, you know, making  _ us  _ public.”

“You know I’ve never cared about that. It was always up to you.”

Mike sighs; he pulls Nicke as close to him as he can, chest to chest. He hugs him for a while, and they just stand there as the world all around them keeps moving. Nothing has ever mattered more than this and nothing ever will.

\/\/\/

There’s nothing Nicke prefers than waking up in Mike’s arms. He loves how naturally warm Mike is, and especially loves how Mike doesn’t sleep with a shirt on because that means more of his warmth will transfer over on Nicke. He also loves tracing the tattoos on Mike’s arms, he loves pretending that he’s the artist with the pen in his hand, the one that’s drawing all the art on Mike’s skin. Neither of that compares to when Nicke turns around in his arms and kisses him. Nicke doesn’t prefer kissing a part of Mike’s face over another, not particularly anyway, but if he had to chose, Nicke would say he loves kissing Mike on the forehead. He doesn’t know why, but that’s just the way it’s always been. 

This morning, however, Nicke doesn’t do any of that. He gets out of bed as quietly as he can so he won’t disturb Mike.

When Nicke comes downstairs, he closes the curtains hanging from their living room windows, something he forgot to do last night, maybe because Mike finally came home or maybe it was all the wine he’d had at dinner. Either way, that’s the first thing he does once he comes downstairs. As he’s closing the curtains, Nicke notices that it’s raining outside. He doesn’t know if it’s just started, but hopes it goes on for a long time - rainy days are his favorite.

Nicke spends a long time watching the rain outside. He’s so entranced by it that he doesn’t notice Mike coming down from their bedroom; Nicke only feels him when Mike wraps his arms around him from behind him and hooks his chin over his shoulder. Mike’s hugging Nicke like he doesn’t ever want to let him go; Nicke doesn’t want him to, either.

Mike lets him go after a while.

“I was going to wait until your birthday to give you this, but,” Mike says before he walks off to the kitchen. Nicke doesn’t move, just watches him and sees him open a drawer - the one all the way at the bottom, near the stove, the one Nicke  _ always  _ forgets is even there - and take a little grey box out. He holds his breath as Mike walks back to him. “I know you said you weren’t going to be done until next season, and I know the playoffs are just around the corner, but-” That’s when Mike goes down on one knee. “We’ve been together for too long for me to not want to be with you for the rest of my life.”

“Oh,  _ Mike,”  _ Nicke says, it’s all he can say when Mike opens the box.

“Will you make me the happiest person on this Earth and marry me?”

Nicke just nods. He can’t say anything. He’s so speechless that he feels if he even attempted to speak, nothing would come out. Mike’s smiling as Nicke just keeps nodding. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Mike slides the simple silver band down Nicke’s finger; Mike kisses it before he gets up and hugs Nicke tight.

“I don’t ever want to be away from you again,” Mike says, and he, he sounds emotional, like he might start crying in a little bit. “You have made me the happiest I have ever been since the day I met you, and you know that.”

“I know. I love you.”

“I love you.”

\/\/\/

Time really does fly after the initial proposal, telling your friends and everyone you know, and planning the wedding. Everything’s a whirlwind. Nicke is stressed, more than normal, between playing playoff hockey and planning his wedding, but it’s only because he wants this to be the perfect day for him and Mike  _ and  _ he wants to win the Cup.

In the end, all the stress seems to have been worth it because the Caps beat the Knights and finally,  _ finally  _ win the Cup. Ovi skates with him, helps him hoist the Cup. Nicke’s mind is going a million miles a minute, he’s thinking of a lot of things: how he got here, all the ups and downs he’s had to go through in his career, but mostly, he’s thinking of Mike. It makes him a little sad that he wasn’t able to directly share this with him, but all that goes away when he thinks of how happy Mike will be for him.

\/\/\/ 

The time that passes between the time they win the Cup and Nicke and Mike’s wedding goes by in a blur. Between all the celebrations and the wedding planning, Nicke and Mike have very little one on one time together. The only time alone they  _ do  _ get together is when they’re finally allowed to go to sleep.

It’s all worth it in the end because before Nicke knows it, his father is walking him down the aisle, closer and closer towards Mike. Mike has the biggest smile on his face that Nicke’s ever seen; it fills Nicke’s heart with happiness. Nothing that has ever happened to him can even come close to this, being surrounded by his family and friends, those who love him the most. 

But most of all, Nicke’s got the only man he’s ever going to need right in front of him. 

**Author's Note:**

> small note: the mentioned playoff moments are actually from the 2018 playoffs, they just happen much, much later in this fic
> 
> you can reach me over @ancientdeceiver on twitter/tumblr


End file.
